Charles Bronson was a Lithuanian American actor often cast in roles of police officers, gunfighters, or vigilantes in revenge-oriented plot lines, who took a 30 plus year road to movie stardom, which finally arrived for him in the early 1970s. His dark. deeply chiseled. handsome looks, brooding taciturn tough guy persona and recognisable voice making him a frequent target for Mork's impersonations and references.
About Charles Bronson[]
He was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 3, 1921 the eleventh of fifteen children, into a Roman Catholic family of Lithuanian descent in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, in the coal region of the Allegheny Mountains north of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His father, Valteris P. Bučinskis, a Lipka Tatar, who adjusted his name to Walter Buchinsky to sound more American, was from Druskininkai in southern Lithuania. Bronson's mother, Mary (née Valinsky), whose parents were from Lithuania, was born in the coal mining town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. Bronson did not speak any English at home during his childhood in Pennsylvania, like many children he grew up with. He recalled that even back when he was in the army, his accent was strong enough to make his comrades think he came from another country. His background affecting his unique delivery and recognisability when he spoke, throughout his acting career.[1]
The family suffered extreme poverty during the Great Depression, and Bronson recalled going hungry many times, he and his brother engaging in dangerous mining work removing "stumps" between the mines, and that cave-ins were common. Bronson worked in the mine until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 during World War II. He served in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, and in 1945 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner with the Guam-based 61st Bombardment Squadron within the 39th Bombardment Group, which conducted combat missions against the Japanese home islands. He flew 25 missions and received a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.[1]
After the end of World War II, Bronson worked at many odd jobs until joining a theatrical group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He later shared an apartment in New York City with Jack Klugman (of subsequent The Odd Couple, and Qunicy M.E. fame) while both were aspiring to play on the stage. In 1950, he married to Harriet Tendler, and moved to Hollywood, where he enrolled in acting classes and began to find small roles. His career was for a long time one of notable roles that should have led on to bigger things, but instead he often found himself back playing supporting roles and villains.
Until 1954, Bronson's credits were all as Charles Buchinsky. His first film role – an uncredited one – was as a sailor in You're in the Navy Now in 1951, directed by Henry Hathaway. His first film as Charles Bronson was Vera Cruz (1954), Bronson scored the lead in ABC's detective series Man with a Camera (1958–1960), in which he portrayed Mike Kovac, a former combat photographer freelancing in New York City. In 1960, he garnered attention in John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven, as one of seven gunfighters taking up the cause of the defenseless. Sturges cast Bronson for another Hollywood production, The Great Escape (1963). The film was a huge hit and Bronson had one of the leads, but he still found himself playing a villain in 4 for Texas (1963) for Robert Aldrich.[1]
In 1965 he and Harriet Tendler, with whom he had 2 sons, divorced. In 1967 Aldrich gave Bronson an excellent role in The Dirty Dozen (1967). It was a massive box office success but Bronson was only the third lead. In 1968 he married Jill Ireland, who he had met while she was married to David McCallum (of Sapphire & Steel and NCIS fame) while making The Great Escape, Ireland leaving McCallum for Bronson. The pair remaining married till her death in 1990 appearing in 15 films together.
In the end it was not in the U.S. but in Europe that Bronson achieved stardom, hits like Adieu l'ami (1968) and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Guns for San Sebastian (1968) Rider on the Rain (1970) Violent City (1970) Cold Sweat (1970) Red Sun (1971) and The Valachi Papers (1972) all helping to raise his profile worldwide earning him a special Golden Globe Henrietta Award for "World Film Favorite – Male" together with Sean Connery. It also brought him a string of movies with United Artists beginning with Chato's Land (1972), then The Mechanic (1972) The Stone Killer (1973) Chino (1973), and the big hit Mr. Majestyk (1974). By 1973, Bronson was considered to be the world's top box office attraction, and commanded $1 million per film.[1]
Bronson's most famous role came at age 52, in Death Wish, his most popular film in 1974, the huge hit spawing four sequels over the next two decades, all starring Bronson. Bronson reached his pinnacle in box-office drawing power in 1975, when he was ranked 4th, behind only Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, and Al Pacino.[1]
In 1978 in a break from his usual type of roles Bronson auditioned for the role of Superman, the part going to the close friend of Robin Williams, the then unknown Christopher Reeve. His age no doubt a factor though Ilya Salkind turned him down for being too earthy. In the years between 1976 and 1994, Bronson commanded high salaries to star in numerous films made by smaller production companies, most notably Cannon Films, for whom some of his last films were made
After Jill Ireland's death, he married for a 3rd time in 1998 to Kim Weeks. Bronson's health deteriorated in his later years, and he retired from acting after undergoing hip-replacement surgery in August 1998. Bronson died at age 81 on August 30, 2003, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[1]
Multiple Mork References[]
- Mork Goes Erk - With Mork's announcement that he's leaving, and concerned for how it might effect Mindy emotionally, she worries about him in turn, but Mork brushes it off referring to his (supposedly) unemotional self as the 'Cosmic Charles Bronson'.
- A Morkville Horror - When Remo challenges a freaked out Mork to man up Mork impersonates both Jack Nicholson and Charles Bronson in trying to recover his equilibrium.
- Gunfight at the Mork-Kay Corral - In the old saloon of the Ghost Town Windy Gulch, Mork runs through a gamut of lines and characters in the recreation of the card game, including impersonating Bronson.
- Mork, the Monkey's Uncle - Mork jokes that the new baby chimp, Doc's baby brogther has Charles Bronson's (quite broad) chin.